Ocado discusses use of Google

Wednesday June 12 2013

Online grocers director of technology describes how online productivity tools are helping to process over 150,000 orders each day

UK online-only grocery retailer Ocado is using Google Enterprise technology to help process over 150,000 orders or 1.1 million items each day and ensure that customers get the groceries they order on time and in the best possible condition.

Staff now work together and communicate with one another using Google Apps and Google+, according to Paul Clarke, director of technology at Ocado.

The executive recently blogged about how the company has also started using Google Apps Engine to build internal applications. For example, “Where’s My Order” will allow customers to track their order and see exactly where their delivery van is through Google Maps.

Cloud compute power supports development

Another project Ocado has developed is through Google Compute Engine, which has enabled better processing of orders in the warehouses through the cloud.

Clarke said Ocado’s robotics team uses the extra compute power to run computationally intensive applications, like the 3D vision systems used by robots in its warehouse. The Engine provides, “instantly flexible and scalable computing power to crunch all those numbers,” he added.

“We are already using the cloud to store and process some of the huge volumes of data that our business spits out every minute,” Clarke stated. “But with an eye to future growth and international expansion, we have plans to use Compute Engine and Cloud Storage to move other parts of our production systems to the cloud.”